Although 2018 is a decisive year for climate action and cooperation, signs of division hamper the global process. The writing of the Paris Rulebook and the release of the special report of the IPCC will determine the pathways to take and the investments to make. The energy landscape is being transformed, and disruptive technologies articulated by digitalisation allow improved efficiency and sustainability. It is time for Europe to outline a new industrial policy for decarbonisation, with long-term ambition and targets sufficiently bold to lead the transition.

How can we ensure countries turn objectives into ambitious policies and long-term decarbonisation plans?

How do we remove the roadblocks for scaling to market? How will technological advancements transform the energy landscape of tomorrow?

What should we expect from the EU long-term strategy and how can we make sure it takes into account the various industry sectors?

This high-level annual summit will bring together an exciting mix of high-level speakers and a few hundred participants, including policymakers, academics, business leaders, civil society representatives and members of the international press from Europe and beyond.

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SESSION I

CLIMATE DIPLOMACY IN A TIME OF DIVISION

Despite strong momentum to write the ‘Paris Rulebook’ by December 2018, the ‘Facilitative Dialogue’ is showing signs of weakness. This comes at a time when the IPCC with its Special Report has demonstrated that actions prior to 2020 are vital in our fight against climate change and its consequences – the damage of failing to limit global warming to 1.5°C compared to 2°C is estimated at $20 trillion alone. While the Paris Agreement was ratified three years ago, differences between the continents exist, influencing the ability of individual countries to increase their ambitions on climate and energy. Whether at European level or between developed and developing countries, expectations are different and thus difficult to fulfil. Climate finance to developing countries is not yet on the table, and decarbonisation pathways between Western and Eastern Europe weaken international cooperation. COP24 in Katowice, Poland, will therefore be a timely and decisive opportunity to establish a shared global vision on climate, and an opportunity for the EU to demonstrate its unity and leadership.

How can we ensure countries turn objectives into ambitious policies and long-term decarbonisation plans?

Can new alliances strengthen the international community by helping national leaders meet common and individual climate targets?

How can we improve the structure of international discussions to engage the private sector in the global fight against climate change?

Speakers include:

Daniela Jacob, Director of the Climate Service Center Germany (GERICS); and lead author of the latest IPCC Special Report ‘‘Global Warming of 1.5 ºC’’Melanie Kenderdine, Principal of the Energy Future Initiative; and former Director of the Office of Energy Policy and Systems Analysis at the US Department of Energy from 2013-2017Mauro Petriccione, European Commission Director-General for Climate Action Frank Rijsberman, Director-General at the Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI), Seoul

10:45-12:00

SESSION II

TRANSFORMATION THROUGH DIGITALISATION

Clean technologies are being developed and the associated costs are plunging. This domino effect is critically transforming the world we live in and is providing an answer to many societal challenges. In recent years, considerable progress and discoveries in developing disruptive technologies have been made to foster and accelerate the energy transition. Big data, blockchain technology and artificial intelligence are just some examples of digital innovations helping to reduce the amount of energy use, designed to be efficient and cost-effective while providing a wide range of services from security of supply to advanced models of energy transmission and storage. The digitalisation of energy infrastructures and systems is creating a breakthrough moment for achieving sustainability objectives. The deployment and adoption rate of these technologies will have a significant effect on the way the private sector can do their part – with the right incentives from policymakers – and adapt to contemporary challenges. This transformation will define both the energy landscape of tomorrow and the budget allocated to research and innovation, the guiding principle of strong and linear decarbonisation pathways.

What policies are more effective in supporting the switch towards cleaner energy technologies? Is the policy environment in step with technological development?

What will be the future for high-priority dispatch for renewables – and how can we ensure a level playing field for all energy sources while continuing to reduce emissions?

How do we remove the roadblocks for scaling to market? How will technological advancements transform the energy landscape of tomorrow?

Speakers include:

Kirsten Dunlop, Chief Executive Officer at EIT Climate-KICLuc Goossens, Chief Technology Officer of ENGIE Research at ENGIE Helen Mountford, Director of Economics at the World Resources Institute (WRI); and Programme Director at the New Climate Economy (NCE) InitiativeBernard Salha, Senior Executive Vice President of EDF Group; and President of EDF Research and Development

12:30-13:30

SESSION III

DEVELOPING A STRATEGY TO DECARBONISE EU INDUSTRIES

The EU is looking for cost-efficient ways to make its economy more climate-friendly and less energy-consuming. To achieve this, the bloc has defined climate and energy targets for 2020 and 2030. Nevertheless, to give guidance and certainty to the private sector and investors, it also has to define a 2050 long-term strategy for decarbonisation and thus review its 2011 roadmap. Failing to acknowledge the underlying consequences of not decarbonising Europe’s industries and coal regions could come at a very high price. By the end of 2018, Europe is expected to propose a concrete roadmap, thus giving impetus to European countries through legislation. Shifting all investments towards clean, resource efficient and a net carbon economy has become a necessity and sustainable finance a way to achieve it. The prospect of industrial decarbonisation will be patchy as it is the responsibility of each European country as well as private sector companies involved to present not only their own strategies to decarbonise their economies, but also the future prospects of their core industries.

How can disruptive national leadership and a clear political vision reinforce European long term strategy for industrial decarbonisation?

What will the next phase of the decarbonisation roadmap look like – and can a Europe wide coherent climate policy be implemented?

What should we expect from the EU long-term strategy and how can we make sure it takes into account the various industry sectors?

Kirsten Dunlop joined EIT Climate-KIC in 2017 from Suncorp Australia, where she was executive General Manager for Strategic Innovation. At Suncorp, Dunlop founded and led a bespoke division which focused on managing and responding to strategic risk through innovation, transforming core business and formulating industry models from within. Prior to roles in Second Road, KPMG and Suncorp, she worked in the UK and Italy for 15 years. Her career spans academia, consulting, banking, insurance, design, innovation and leadership across Europe, Australia and North America. Dunlop's strong focus on change, innovation and cultivating an empowering and inspiring company culture will help drive forward Climate-KIC's important work in speeding up the transition towards a zero-carbon economy.

Luc Goossens

CTO ENGIE Research at ENGIE

In his current role at ENGIE, Luc Goossens coordinates all Research and Development activities related to energy and services. Prior to that, Goossens was nominated as Director in charge of Wind, Hydro and Geothermal generation within the Centralised Generation Metier of ENGIE. His team has ensured the assured transversal alignment of all development, construction and operational projects in these technologies over the 24 ENGIE Business units with, an installed capacity of 21 GW renewables worldwide. He was also the Department Manager for Electrabel Nuclear Power Plants projects where he led the project team on engineering &amp; construction management of modification projects.

Erica Hope

Senior Associate at the European Climate Foundation

Erica Hope joined the European Climate Foundation (ECF) in 2013 and is currently based in the Governance and Law team where she leads ECF’s ‘2050 task force’: a cross-thematic programme of work designed to realise European commitments to net zero emissions by the mid-century. On energy efficiency, her most recent project focused on integrating the demand side into EU energy policy (‘Efficiency First’). Previously, she developed strategies and grants to boost political support for UK’s low carbon transition and to follow through on a plan for its subsequent delivery. Hope also steers the work of the ECF’s Programme Office to ensure alignment between programmes and working levels. She previously led the policy and advocacy activities of the NGO network, Climate Action Network Europe, on energy efficiency and was instrumental to establishing the influential Coalition for Energy Savings.

Daniela Jacob

Director of the Climate Service Center Germany (GERICS) and coordinating lead author of the IPCC Special Report ‘‘Global Warming of 1.5 ºC’’

As Director of the Climate Service Center Germany (GERICS), a scientific organisational entity of Helmholtz-Zentrum Geesthacht, and a visiting professor at Leuphana University in the Faculty of Sustainability, Daniela Jacob showcases her expertise on the subject of climate issues. In 2010, Jacob was appointed to be a leading author of the IPCC Fifth Assessment Report (Working Group 2). She is currently one of the coordinating lead authors of the IPCC Special Report on the impact of global warming of 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels. She is a member of several committees and an Ex-officio member of the ‘Earth League’, an international alliance of prominent scientists from world‐class research institutions.

Dharmendra Kanani

Director of Insights at Friends of Europe

Dharmendra Kanani has been in senior leadership roles in the Public and Voluntary sectors across the UK and Europe over a period of 26 years. In 2005, he was appointed as Director of Scotland of the Big Lottery Fund. Subsequently, from 2010 to 2014, Kanani was the England Director at the Big Lottery Fund, the largest independent funder in the UK. Since 2016, he has supported Friends of Europe’s strategic development across all its policy areas with a strong focus on Climate and Energy; Peace, Security and Defence as well as Digitalisation. Prior to this role, Kanani was the European Foundation Centre’s (EFC) first Fellow in July 2014.

Melanie Kenderdine

Principal of the Energy Future Initiative and former Director of the Office of Energy Policy and Systems Analysis at the US Department of Energy (2013-2017)

Passionate about the energy market, Melanie Kenderdine served as Director of the Office of Energy Policy and Systems Analysis and Energy Counsellor to Secretary Moniz. Prior to these posts, she worked as the Executive Director and Associate Director for the MIT Energy Initiative (MITEI). During her six-year tenure at MITEI, she helped raise over $500mn from industry and private donors for energy research and education. Kenderdine was the Vice President of Washington Operations for the Gas Technology Institute and also served as a political appointee in President Bill Clinton’s administration. Kenderdine has recently been appointed as Principal of the Energy Future Initative, a US not-for-profit organisation dedicated to driving innovation in energy tech, policy and business models.

Helen Mountford

Director of Economics at the World Resources Institute (WRI) and Programme Director at the New Climate Economy (NCE) Initiative

Helen Mountford has over 4 years of experience at the World Resources Institute (WRI) and the New Climate Economy (NCE) initiative. She works with a small team of economists to help support the WRI Signature Initiatives and Centres to integrate an economics angle, where appropriate, to strengthen the underlying analysis and impact of their work. As former Deputy Director of Environment at the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) on policy reforms, Mountford oversaw work on green fiscal reform, climate change finance and economics, fossil fuel subsidy reforms, green growth, water pricing, biodiversity incentive measures and economy-environment outlooks and modelling. Recently, she co-authored the NCE report entitled “Unlocking the inclusive growth story of the 21st century: Accelerating climate action in urgent times”.

François-Régis Mouton

Chair of GasNaturally Steering Committee

François-Régis Mouton founded GasNaturally in 2011. He is currently the Chair of GasNaturally Steering Committee and Europe’s Director of the global oil and gas industry trade association (IOGP). Previously, he held various positions in the exploration and production, gas and power branches of Total in France, Africa, Belgium and the United Kingdom. Mouton was also appointed at the World Bank Group partnership on “Global Gas Flaring Reduction”, where he launched zero flaring policies in Qatar and regional cooperation in the Gulf Of Guinea. He also served as Vice-President for Gas Advocacy of Total in Brussels.

Mauro Petriccione

European Commission Director-General for Climate Action

Mauro Petriccione was appointed as European Commission Director-General for Climate Action in 2018. Previously, as Director of DG Trade, he was in charge of bilateral trade relations with the Americas (both North America and Latin America), Asia, Australia and New Zealand, and trade in services and investment. From 2014 to early 2018, he was Deputy Director-General of DG Trade and was responsible for trade relations concerning services and investment, intellectual property, public procurement, agri-food and fisheries; trade relations with Asia, Latin America and countries of Africa, the Caribbean and the Pacific in addition to the areas of trade and sustainable development. He also served as Chief Negotiator for the EU-Canada Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA), the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement and the EU-Japan Economic Partnership Agreement.

Frank Rijsberman

Director-General at the Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI), Seoul

Frank Rijsberman leads the Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI) in supporting a government transition to a model of economic growth that is both environmentally sustainable and socially inclusive. With over 30 years’ experience in addressing the challenges of environmental sustainability and poverty reduction with leading international organisations and philanthropic foundations, Rijsberman was appointed as the Director-General of the Institute in 2016. Prior to joining GGGI, Rijsberman served as Chief Executive Officer of the Consultative Group for International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) Consortium. In this role, he led CGIAR’s transformation from 15 independent research centres towards a single integrated organisation.

Bernard Salha

Senior Executive Vice President of EDF Group, President of EDF Research and Development

As the Chief Technical Officer at EDF Group since 2018, Bernard Salha oversees the technical operations of the company. He is also Senior Executive Vice President of EDF Group and President of EDF Research and Development. With more than 2000 researchers, EDF R&amp;D covers all the Group's activities, upstream in the field of generation (nuclear, thermal, hydro and renewable) and downstream in the fields of transport and distribution grids, energy management and customer relationships. Previously, after having held various senior positions in engineering units at EDF, he served as Director of the Nuclear Engineering Division. Following his experience at the French Ministry of Defence, Salha participated in China's Nuclear Power Program (LingAo I).

Ovais Sarmad

Deputy Executive Secretary at the UNFCCC

Ovais Sarmad is currently supporting the Executive Secretary in managing the operations of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Secretariat, its staff and organisational development, advising on a range of issues relating to the inter-governmental affairs and strategic planning. He previously served as Chief of Staff/Chef de Cabinet at the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) in Geneva where he worked in several management and policy capacities.

Hans Van Steen

European Commission Acting Director for Renewables, Research and Innovation, Energy Efficiency

An experienced professional in renewable energy support schemes, Hans Van Steen currently advises Director at DG Energy on providing secure, affordable and clean energy for EU citizens and businesses. Among other things, he works on the Clean Energy Package aimed at addressing key challenges in the European electricity market and accelerating renewable energy innovation. Prior to that, Hans served as Head of Unit with responsibilities for International Energy Relations and Enlargement. In that capacity he was in charge of the implementation of the actions set out under the external dimension of the Energy Union Strategy.

Marco Waas

Director RD&I and Technology at Nouryon

In his current role, the responsibilities of Marco Waas include circular and bio-based economy, Industry 4.0, electrification and Open innovation. Waas is also Chairman of the Executive Board of the Institute of Sustainable Process Technology, Chairman of the Innovation Policy Committee of the Dutch Chemical Industry Association and non-executive Board member of the Icos III collaborative venture fund. Before joining Nouryon, he held the position of Dean at the Delft University of Technology where he was responsible for the Faculty of Mechanical, Maritime and Materials Engineering. He previously held several management positions at Unilever.

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